Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Sells 62,999 Shares of MetLife, Inc. $MET

Key Points

• Epoch Investment Partners Inc. reduced its stake in MetLife, Inc. by 4.2%, selling 62,999 shares and owning approximately 1.43 million shares worth $114.6 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Price T Rowe Associates Inc. and Bank of New York Mellon Corp, increased their stakes in MetLife during the same period, reflecting strong institutional interest in the company.
• MetLife's earnings report showed an EPS of $2.02, missing estimates, while it also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.5675 per share with a payout ratio of 38.47%.

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lessened its stake in shares of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report) by 4.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,427,864 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 62,999 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. owned about 0.21% of MetLife worth $114,643,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of MetLife by 7.4% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 26,488,146 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,126,734,000 after acquiring an additional 1,824,907 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in MetLife by 0.4% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,862,835 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $711,597,000 after buying an additional 36,177 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in MetLife by 3.6% in the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,406,512 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $594,410,000 after buying an additional 259,993 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in MetLife by 0.8% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,109,423 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $570,816,000 after buying an additional 57,221 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in MetLife by 3.7% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,671,435 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $535,568,000 after buying an additional 236,698 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.99% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on MET. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $92.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of MetLife from $100.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $97.00 price objective (up previously from $94.00) on shares of MetLife in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of MetLife from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of MetLife from $98.00 to $94.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $95.60.

MetLife Stock Performance

Shares of MET stock opened at $80.86 on Tuesday. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $77.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $78.43. The company has a market cap of $53.77 billion, a PE ratio of 13.71, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. MetLife, Inc. has a 12-month low of $65.21 and a 12-month high of $89.05.

MetLife (NYSE:MET - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.32 by ($0.30). The business had revenue of $17.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.58 billion. MetLife had a return on equity of 19.88% and a net margin of 5.83%.The business's revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.28 earnings per share. Analysts expect that MetLife, Inc. will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MetLife Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.5675 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 5th. This represents a $2.27 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. MetLife's payout ratio is 38.47%.

MetLife announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to buyback $3.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 5.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

About MetLife

MetLife, Inc, a financial services company, provides insurance, annuities, employee benefits, and asset management services worldwide. It operates through six segments: Retirement and Income Solutions; Group Benefits; Asia; Latin America; Europe, the Middle East and Africa; and MetLife Holdings. The company offers life, dental, group short-and long-term disability, individual disability, pet insurance, accidental death and dismemberment, vision, and accident and health coverages, as well as prepaid legal plans; administrative services-only arrangements to employers; and general and separate account, and synthetic guaranteed interest contracts, as well as private floating rate funding agreements.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MET? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.